Froriepia subpinnata Leaf Extract-Induced Apoptosis in the MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Line by Increasing Intracellular Oxidative Stress

Background: Froriepia subpinnata (F. subpinnata) is one of the plants used in the diet of Iranian people. Previous studies have investigated the antioxidant and antibacterial effects of this plant extract, but no study has been conducted on its anticancer properties. Objectives: In this study, we investigated the effect of F. subpinnata extract on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Methods: The inhibitory effect of F. subpinnata leaf extract was determined on the growth of cancer cells by the MTT test. The ROS (reactive oxygen species) test was used to investigate the impact of the extract on intracellular oxidative stress. Flow cytometry and real-time PCR tests were used to investigate the apoptosis-related molecular processes. The GC-MS analysis was performed to determine the most abundant components. Results: The GC-MS analysis showed that phytol, mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), cinnamaldehyde, and neophytadiene constituted 60% of the extracted content. The MTT assay demonstrated that F. subpinnata leaf extract caused 50% lethality at a 400 μg/mL dose in MCF7 cells. The F. subpinnata extract at low doses decreased the ROS level for 24 hours in MCF-7, but by increasing the concentration, the ROS levels increased. At the IC50 dose (inhibitory concentration (IC) associated with 50% impact), the ROS level increased 3.5 times compared to the control group. Examining the effect of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) showed that this antioxidant agent could prevent the lethal impact of the extract and eliminate the ROS increase in MCF7 cells. Flow cytometry and real-time PCR results showed that the extract specifically induced apoptosis through the internal apoptosis pathway in this cancer cell line. Conclusions: The F. subpinnata extract induced apoptosis by increasing ROS in MCF-7 cancer cells and can be considered for further studies.